The Bureau of Reclamation's Mid-Pacific Region today announced the creation of an office that will focus on the many issues associated with the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary. Susan Fry has been selected to lead the new Bay-Delta Office.

"The Bay-Delta Office will allow us to more efficiently and effectively manage our region's numerous critical programs and activities related to the Bay-Delta. The office will approach these important efforts in close coordination with other federal and California state agencies, non-governmental organizations, and interested stakeholders," said Donald Glaser, regional director of the Bureau of Reclamation's Mid-Pacific Region. "Sue Fry's natural resources expertise, coupled with her extensive experience working collaboratively with a wide range of interests, make her well-suited to lead the Bay-Delta Office."

The San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta) represents a unique geographical, legal, and political convergence of California's water supply, delivery, and environmental stewardship priorities. As owner and operator of the federal Central Valley Project, Reclamation is a senior partner with other federal, state and local agencies, water and power stakeholders, the environmental community and the general public in successfully addressing these urgent and emerging priorities. The breadth and diversity of Bay-Delta activities, and the need for timely and effective solutions, place extraordinary demands on Reclamation. The Bay-Delta Office will centralize program management and staff expertise to help ensure that Reclamation effectively responds to the urgent needs of the Bay-Delta.

Regarding her selection as manager, Fry said, "I look forward to the opportunity to provide leadership and help manage the integral programs and activities associated with the Bay-Delta. I will remain Klamath Area Manager long enough to ensure a smooth transition."

Fry has served as the area manager of the Mid-Pacific Region's Klamath Basin Area Office, located in Klamath Falls, Oregon, since January 2009. She will remain in that position until a new area manager is selected. Fry's transition to the new Bay-Delta Office is expected to take place in the next 3 to 6 months.

As area manager, Fry provided oversight for the Klamath Project water supply and operations and helped lead the restoration programs under way in the Klamath Basin. Previously, Fry served as the Mid-Pacific Region's environmental officer and as Reclamation's lead on the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan.

Fry joined the Mid-Pacific Region in 2004 after two years as a private consultant on water resource concerns in northern California and wilderness designation issues across the West. Prior to coming to Reclamation, she was a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employee for 12 years, during which time she was the senior project manager on the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Basins Comprehensive Study. Her experience also includes working as an assistant to the Legislative Clerk for the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee on Capitol Hill.

Fry graduated from the University of California at Davis with a Bachelor of Science degree in wildlife biology.

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Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier and the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the United States, with operations and facilities in the 17 Western States. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR.